John Fry (record producer)

Fry engineered and produced an eclectic array of records. As of 2014, Ardent Studios had recorded over 70 gold and platinum albums and singles, many for Stax Records. He was best known for his work on the first three Big Star albums and as the band's mentor.

Fry received the 2006 Distinguished Achievement in the Creative and Performing Arts Award from the College of Communication and Fine Arts at the University of Memphis. On November 6, 2014, Fry was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame. Upon his induction, fewer than fifty people had been so-honored.

Fry died of cardiac arrest in a Memphis hospital on December 18, 2014, at the age of 69.

Ardent Studios was used by recording artists including Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, ZZ Top, R.E.M., Stevie Ray Vaughan, Al Green, the Allman Brothers Band, B.B. King, the White Stripes, the Replacements, and Three 6 Mafia as well as Stax Records recording artists including Cat Power, M.I.A., and Big Star. About 20 percent of the Stax catalog was recorded at Ardent, and the major Stax artists recorded there, except for Otis Redding, who died in 1967.

John Edward Fry (December 31, 1944 – December 18, 2014) was the founder of Ardent Records in Memphis, Tennessee, which includes Ardent Studios; two record labels, Ardent Records (Christian label) and Ardent Music (mainstream label); and a production company, Ardent Film Department. The business was founded in 1959. It moved into commercial spaces at 1457 National Street in 1966.